Industrial Revolution to the 1960's Environmental Movement
Between increasing suffering and the unfulfilled promise of prosperity, faith in religion was depleted greatly during the Industrial Revolution. With the advent of machinery, there was greater confidence in mankind to produce life-saving inventions rather than believing that a deity would fill those needs. This gave society the audacity to question personal philosophy and spirituality, shifting the mindset away from the supernatural deity and more towards the logical, evidence-based science which was backed up by many increasingly popular theorists such as Albert Einstein and Charles Darwin. Charles Darwin In 1859, Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species. ''Darwin introduced the ideas of natural selection and adaptive radiation to explain the origin and diversity of organisms. Many felt that Darwin was mounting a serious challenge to traditional religious understandings of the creation of the world and humankind.http://www.northwestern.edu/onebook/the-reluctant-mr-darwin/essays/darwin-religion.html Some adherents of religion have argued that Darwinian Evolution is utterly incompatible with religious belief. Therefore, they say evolution must be rejected. Similarly, some opponents of religion have argued that Darwin’s greatest achievement was disproving the claims of religion. From this perspective, religion must be rejected. Both sides share a view that Evolution and religion are incompatible; both hold that Evolution entails atheism. But that is not the only way to conceive the relationship between Evolution and religion. Although some religious communities rejected Darwin’s theory as inherently atheistic, many religious traditions have embraced it and have explored the ways Darwin has had a positive impact on religious thinking. Theologian Wolfhart Pannenberg, for example, writes: “The theory of evolution has given theology an opportunity to see God’s ongoing activity not merely in the preservation of a fixed order but in the constant bringing forth of things that are new.” That is to say, Evolution can help religious people affirm that God’s creative work is a matter of continuing engagement over time. As a result, it is possible to acknowledge the openness and flexibility of divine creative activity. Origins of environmental assault Lead arsenate was first used in apple orchards in the 1890s to combat the codling moth (''Cydia pomonella), a destructive insect pest.http://66.147.244.135/~enviror4/industrial/late-industrial-1850-90/ This pesticide was very popular among farmers because of its effectiveness, low cost, ease of use, and persistence. Over the next 60 years the frequency and amount of lead arsenate applications increased. Increased use eventually led to development of pesticide resistance, which started the downward spiral of decreased efficacy requiring growers to increase rates and application frequency. Growers eventually switched to more viable alternates such as DDT. The basic nature of the elements in lead arsenate and its widespread use contributed to the contamination of thousands of acres across the United States. As more landowners become aware of the lead arsenate issue, questions arise about the potential risks to human and environmental health.http://66.147.244.135/~enviror4/progressive/late-progressive/ The story of lead arsenate provides rich insight into pesticide application practices of the past and a benchmark by which to judge current practices in pesticide safety education. Just as quickly as the Industrial Revolution initiated the new global golden age of prosperity and monumental improvements to the human condition, it has just as quickly provided ecological challenges and sharp focus on the need for control and sustainability. The fundamental effect of the Industrial Revolution on the planet that continues to resonate today with increasing influence is undeniably human population growth.http://www.ecology.com/2013/11/11/continuing-ecological-impact-industrial-revolution/ Food production, agriculture, housing, land use, air pollution, energy production and consumption, sanitation, potable water issues and all other basic needs of human existence are directly correlated to the demands and usage of the resources available to us. The Industrial Revolution used fossil fuels as the means to advance the conditions for human life, and that is the point from which today’s society evolved. U.S. treatment towards environmental pollution During the 1920’s we saw some political changes with the US Supreme Court allowed New Jersey to continue dumping sewage into New York Harbor in New York v. New Jersey 256 U.S. 296.https://books.google.com/books?id=Dk0_AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA650&lpg=PA650&#v=onepage&q&f=false However, the court says: "The grave problem of sewage disposal presented by the large and growing populations living on the shores of New York Bay is one more likely to be wisely solved by cooperative study and by conference and mutual concession on the part of representatives of the States so vitally interested in it than by proceedings in any court however constituted." References: